Myanmar government, ethnic groups to discuss Kokang issue separately

Peace negotiators of the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups have agreed to discuss the ongoing fighting in Kokang near the border with China separately after the end of current round of talks.

Khun Okker, member of the ethnic armed groups' National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), told China's state-run Xinhua news agency in an interview on Thursday that while the draft nationwide ceasefire agreement tops the main agenda, the Union Peace-Making Work Committee (UPWC) of the Myanmar government has agreed to discuss the Kokang issue separately in detail at the request of the NCCT.

The NCCT has called for settling political issues by political means instead of using force.

Despite touching on the Kokang and Kachin conflicts on the first day of the seventh round of peace talks between the UPWC and NCCT under the heading of conflict reduction, no details were covered.

As tension is still prevailing, coordination has been done to overcome the issues, Khun Okker said, calling on the UPWC to bring Kokang ethnic armed group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), to the peace talks.

NCCT member Daw Zaw Mya Yaza Lin stressed at a poress conference on Thursday the importance of prompt signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement to set codes of conduct for armed members so that conflicts will not occur.

Peace negotiators of Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups resumed their formal seventh round of peace talks in Yangon on Tuesday, focusing on some eight remaining points out of over 100 of the draft nationwide ceasefire accord left by the previous talks in a bid to push for its finalisation.